ON THE "FIELD" AND "QUEEN" 149 



he wrote on one such, published March 3rd, 1862, 

 being one of the first of his signed articles in the 

 Field ; as the axolotl, that strange creature with 

 the Mexican name ; as trichinae in pigs ; as 

 albino birds ; as hybrids of the rabbit and hare, 

 and other things noted in the chapter on 

 "Scientific Work." 



Here I must hasten on to describe his writings 

 for the Queen, which though not so widely known 

 to the public as those for the Field, since his 

 chief contributions to it were editorial " leaders," 

 and therefore not signed, were nevertheless an 

 important part of his life's work. They covered 

 a period of nearly a quarter of a century, and 

 as they were mainly on subjects of interest to 

 women, and usually of a topical nature, they 

 illustrate the man's versatility, and show him to 

 have been a thorough journalist — alert, " up-to- 

 date," well informed on current events, and able 

 lucidly to express a carefully considered opinion, 

 and a ripened judgment on most matters of 

 general interest. The range of subject covered 

 by these leading articles was necessarily wide, 

 considering the limits imposed by the Queen 

 being a ladies' newspaper. One could easily fill 

 this chapter with a mere recital of the titles of 

 these articles, which however were not always 

 of a purely feminine interest, as for instance, 

 those on Alien Workers, Street Collections, 

 Volunteer Firemen, the Opium Commission, and 



